


The Darkness Calls Us

by MugenYumeDansu



Category: Pitch Black (2000), The Chronicles of Riddick Series
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, F/M, Furyan Alpha/Beta/Omega Dynamics, Original Character(s), Rape/Non-con Elements, Slow Burn, dark themes
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-09-05
Updated: 2018-12-30
Packaged: 2019-07-07 11:49:17
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death, Rape/Non-Con
Chapters: 7
Words: 11,360
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15907683
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/MugenYumeDansu/pseuds/MugenYumeDansu
Summary: Running full tilt wasn't getting her anywhere. They were still close behind.Shots rang out as she bolted in between the buildings and launched herself up into the air, twisting to plant her foot on one side of the wall and propelling across the alley toward the iron railing of the balcony far above.She ducked inside and out of sight just as one of the idiots behind her barelled into the alley."The fuck she go?" He asked, looking around.Alyna smiled and pressed her back to the cold concrete of the abandoned apartment building, slowing down her breathing so he couldn't hear her panting. She crouched down and drew the knife from her boot.Acid green eyes flashed in the dark.Alyna Leone has always been a little wild, relying on her heightened senses, reflexes and natural instincts to survive. Those reflexes save her once again when the transport ship she's on crash lands on a desert planet.One of few survivors, she finds herself drawn to the strange convict, his merc captor, and the scared girl masquerading as a boy. Add the impending eclipse, hungry beasts below, and Alyna's own self discovery in the middle of a race against time.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> This is an alternate universe in which Alyna Leone is part of the party that survived the Hunter-Gratzner's crash landing on M344/G.
> 
> The timeline is altered so that there are approximately 3 days of sunlight left before the eclipse, the skiff is in worse repair, so there's more that has to be done before the group can get off world.
> 
> Johns is slightly less of a POS than in the movie. (Even if he seems like it.)  
> Jack is, of course, still Jack.  
> Suleiman gets a speaking line.
> 
> Riddick isn't the only one with an animal side. Only Alyna's is a whole different beast.

_They say most of your brain shuts down in cryosleep. All but the primitive side. The animal side._

_Is that why I'm still awake?_

_Probably. It figures, the first time I get put in cryo it turns out I'm one of those freaks that don't actually get to shut down. No, I'm stuck here, fully aware of every second that ticks by, every sound, every smell around me._

_There are close to 40 heart beats echoing around me, and just as many commingling scents. Enough to make me want to sneeze. Only cryo prevents that. So I'm stuck with the irritation for the duration of this ride across the universe._

_Lucky. Fuckin'. Me._

_The only good thing about this whole fiasco? I finally got the fuck out of the Conga system, and away from those assholes that thought it would be fun to fuck with the pretty girl._

_That's one more body on my list. I really wish these idiots would learn to leave me alone._

_How did I get here? Well, it started out when I was just some dumb punk kid, pickpocketing people for Zula. Zula was the local jockey for some organized crime honcho. He also had a taste for little girls. I didn't realize at the time, but the majority of his little birds, as he called us, were pretty little sprightly girls, or feminine lookin' boys who could pass as girls._

_He took us in off the streets, most of us bein' orphans an' all, taught us a trade, and let us loose on the streets to rob people blind._

_I was the second best hand there. Sometimes I wish I wasn't. Gets me into more trouble than I'd like._

_I could smell the corruption on Zula. Darkness, pain, sadistic pleasure, sex, exhilaration, and something I didn't want to name that made my stomach turn. Something I smelled on some of the other young kids._

_I knew what it meant, and I managed to avoid him for the most part._

_Then when I was around thirteen he noticed my avoidance and started gunning straight for me._

_I figured it was time to leave the nest then. And maybe take a bit of the take along with me._

_Only, I didn't quite make it in time. I managed to break into his rooms just fine, and got ahold of quite a bit of the stashed stolen goods, a good amount of creds, and was on my way out when he caught me red handed._

_He pinned me, made this horrible speech about what he was going to do to me, and then he tore my clothes from me, and started in on me._

_When he hit me I saw red and a wicked pain sliced through my consciousness. The next thing I knew I was standing over his bloody pulp of a body, covered in his blood. My senses heightened to the point of near-blinding pain, hearing amplified so I heard everything withing a half mile radius, smell ramped up to the point that every scent was simultaneously its own, and part of a whole mess of stink at once, vision so sharp my eyes ached, skin so sensitive that everything felt like needles._

_I didn't notice until later, but all I could taste was blood. My own blood, not Zula's. I had bitten the fuck out of my own tongue, lips and cheeks with my brand new pearly white fangs; my eye teeth had become razor sharp with a secondary slightly smaller set beside them, and matching fangs on the bottom._

_Accompanying that there was a rush of blood from between my legs that signified the beginning of my transition from girl to woman. The raging beast inside me had also woken in that moment, and as I discovered later, taken over to protect me._

_I barely managed to grab my bag of loot and bolt._

_I never looked back, instead focusing on survival on my own. And right into trouble more times than I'd like to count. Stupid men looking for revenge for Zula, or the ones who came after. Or just the ones that wouldn't keep their hands to themselves._

_It led me to where I am now, barely of age, over twenty dead men under my belt, aboard a ship bound for New Mecca, and a fresh start with forged IDs and a chip on my shoulder._

_Growing up on the streets taught me how to survive on my own with no real home to call my own, so I figured hopping a transport to a different planet in a whole different system where people wouldn't be hunting me would get me out of trouble for a while._

_I fuckin' hate being wrong. The Universe must have one hell of a sense of humor, putting my ass on this boat. If it wasn't for cryo I would have started laughing when the alarms started blaring._

_Too bad I had to live through that fucked up cargo dump. Turns out I picked the wrong fuckin' cabin too. A sick twist manifested in my gut as my cabin disengaged from the rest of the crashing ship._

_Cryo disengaged, allowing my limbs to move as I and fourty or so other passengers plummeted through atmo to our deaths. I hit my head on the glass in front of me when my body lurched forward._

_Hello chaos, my old friend. I blacked out._

_***_

Running full tilt wasn't getting her anywhere. They were still close behind.

Shots rang out as she bolted in between the buildings and launched herself up into the air, twisting to plant her foot on one side of the wall and propelling across the alley toward the iron railing of the balcony far above.

She ducked inside and out of sight just as one of the idiots behind her barelled into the alley.

"The fuck she go?" He asked, looking around.

Alyna smiled and pressed her back to the cold concrete of the abandoned apartment building, slowing down her breathing so he couldn't hear her panting. She crouched down and drew the knife from her boot.

Acid green eyes flashed in the dark.

"I just want the fuck off this rock." She muttered to herself.

She didn't have to wait long before his partner showed up.

"You look around here, I'm heading up there for a better look."  A wicked grin spread across her face.

The other guy, wiry thin and greasy looking, smelled like synthetic drugs, made his way toward the fire escape ladder.

He barely made it through the doorway before her itchy fingers tightened on the blade, the other clutching at a second knife. It arched through the air, and his neck. A silver flash flew past him, finding its mark as well.

Arterial spray barely missed her as she darted across the bare floor to the other side of the building and down the concrete wall. She was gone before her victim stumbled back out the door and over the edge of the railing, clutching his red soaked throat and gurgling out his last breath.

The partner lay in a pool of his own blood on the filthy alley floor, a second blade embedded in his chest.

The girl flipped her hood up over her pitch black hair and made her way into the crowd on the street, headed for the transport station.


	2. Chapter 2

"I am not going to die on this useless excuse for a planet." The dark haired woman stated out loud. She had come to only minutes before, half pinned under a cryopod that had broken from the wall. The man inside was already dead, if the huge shard of metal protruding through his bloody abdomen meant anything.

Alyna shifted the pod over a little more and slid out from underneath. She sat, breathless, getting her bearings. She had a few scrapes and bruises, but nothing else. She had somehow ended up flung from her cryopod, and ended up pinned beneath the one she'd woken under.

She finished checking herself over and got to her feet. She started slowly checking all the other remaining cryopods, of which there were only about a third of the original fourty in this container. None of them were fully intact, including the one she had been flung from. She found no other survivors.

From the amount of light and sand that was spilling into the large hole in the side of the container, Alyna guessed she was in some kind of desert. Just great. So she set to gathering as much as she could that might be salvageable, finding her beat to hell duffle among the personal belongings of the passengers. She also located an in tact medical kit and two canteens of water, shoving them into her bag. 

She found a rucksack containing woman's clothes that were only slightly large, and a few feminine care products. She stripped off her torn tee and shredded skinny jeans, changing into a steel gray tank top and loose fitting navy cargos. She held on to everything else, shoving the feminine products into the med kit, just in case.

As soon as she was finished changing she heard shuffling and stopped to listen. There was an odd scuffling coming from the hull. From below. Followed by a faint trill of some sort that sent chills straight down her spine. She went into stealth mode immediately, lightening her steps and carefully, quietly, shuffling through the remaining personal items of the dead passengers before stowing everything. She found several pairs of welders goggles, donning one set and carefully putting the rest away.

Lowering the goggles to block out as much of the searing light as she could, Alyna made her way outside.

The goggles were a godsend, much better than any sunglasses she'd ever had. Outside she took a look around. What she saw made her send up a prayer of thanks for her survival to whatever god might be listening.

The wreckage stretched out for miles in both directions. Smoke still rose from several of the torn and twisted remains of passenger containers. Shaking her head, Alyna turned to regard the twin suns. Taking a deep breath she started for the closest section of wreckage, hoping that maybe she would find some more survivors, or at least some more supplies. Maybe a weapon of some kind.

She had a feeling she was going to need one soon, if those odd whooping trills she had heard from beneath meant anything. She needed to find out of anyone else was alive on this heap, before the source of those noises found them first.

***

Alyna made her way up toward the last piece of wreckage, the very front of the ship. Davis, the only other survivor she had found on the way, trailed behind her. They were headed toward the voices of other people. Alyna took the lead, still carrying her salvaged supplies. Davis, a big bald man, was carrying a second bag of supplies, and a large machete. Davis was chattering at her, likely to alleviate some of his own anxiety. It was starting to get on Alyna's nerves. She was about to snap at the poor man to shut up when something drew her attention.

The smell of other humans was something she knew, but this was something altogether different. Something intriguing. It was masculine, sweat, leather, metal. But there was an underlying scent that screamed predator. Something she couldn't quite place. Almost feline. Interesting.

"Davis, be careful." She told the man as they made their way past a part of the ship. He nodded, allowing her to take point. She made her way close enough for someone to hear and cupped her hands around her mouth.

"Hello! We came looking for any other survivors! My name's Lyn. There's another man with me, don't be alarmed." She called, giving the alias she had booked passage under. She heard the sound of excited speech and then a woman bolted out of the opening. She had dark skin and black hair flying around her shoulder's, dressed in leather. Likely a prospector.

"Oh my god! There are others!" She shouted back into the ship. A young kid and a short skinny man followed her out. At first Alyna pegged the kid as a boy, but then the distinctly unique scent of mentrual blood hit her nose and Alyna knew, this kid was a girl, disguised as a boy. A runaway then.

Alyna and her companion were suddenly swarmed with welcoming hands, introductions being passed around. The prospector woman was Shazza. The kid was going by Jack. The diminutive man was called Paris. He carried the scent of fear so strong it permeated the air around him, souring the air. Alyna pegged him for a coward. Not long after that Shazza's husband Zeke made an appearance. Davis offered to help the man move the bodies of the dead, and the two were welcomed into the fold. They also received warning about a convict who had escaped after the crash. A man named Riddick.

The scent that she had caught earlier, the one with distinctly animal qualities. She caught sight of a rather large bald man, heavily muscled, perched under a large umbrella not far away. He was wearing a pair of goggles similar to her own. No one else noticed him. Alyna said nothing. Instead she made herself useful, helping the others to scavenge. After all, it was something she was good at, and if a few supplies never made it past her pockets, well, none the wiser.

***

The desert was dreary and miserable, with three suns, one just rising over the horizon, the other two slowly circling at an angle that spoke of eternal sunlight. The whole landscape, the rocks and dirt, took on an amber color through her treated goggles. But at least the lenses cut the glare and helped her sensitive eyes to adjust.

The two of them were put to work, helping the others salvage as much as possible from the ship while waiting on the rest of their group, the ships pilot, a lawman, a holy man and his three sons, to return. The unspoken bit about Riddick lingered in the air, causing tension.

Alyna actually wanted to meet this Riddick. See if he was as dangerous as they said. His scent was rather enticing to her. And maybe he wasn't exactly what the rest of this group thought. Hell, look at her. She was a tiny, unassuming little girl with over twenty bodies to her name. Most people saw her as harmless, even the mercs who had been hunting her. She of all people knew that not everyone was what you expected them to be.

The girl, Jack, hovered right beside Alyna, asking questions and being generally curious. Alyna indulged her, talking amiably. She waited until she could catch the kid alone before pulling her aside, leading her farther into the container where no one else was around. Jack looked up at her curiously.

"Jack, you need to take care of that before it becomes a problem." Alyna motioned vaguely downward. Jack looked confused for a second, and then she blushed.

"I... I-" she started to stammer out some sort of reply, but Alyna was already rifling through her bag for the med kit and handing Jack the feminine products.

"Go take care of it, I'll guard your back." With that she shoved the girl toward the shadowed alcove and turned so she could watch the front. No sooner than the girl made her reappearance, Shazza stepped inside and motioned to them.

"Johns and Fry are back. Come on." The darker woman turned on her heel and was gone. Alyna glanced down at Jack. The girl gave her a grateful look and headed outside. Alyna followed, lowering her goggles over her eyes, having lifted them in order to see properly in the shadowy interior of the ship.

When she stepped into the sun she was met by a grim faced man in blue and a blonde woman in a pilot uniform. A dark skinned man and three boys, ranging from early to late teens, were there too. All were dressed in the traditional chrislam robes. The lawman did a double take at her, noticing her eyewear. She raised an eyebrow, but otherwise ignored his reaction.

Alyna sighed as yet more introductions were made. She shuddered slightly when John's, the man in the blue uniform with the gun, shook her hand. Something about him was off. Unnatural. Alyna filed the information away for future use.

***

Alyna ran hard, her legs pumping as fast as she could manage. The sound of gunshots and screaming were drowned out by the whooping echoes of the things underground. There was blood in the air. Fresh blood. Fear coursed through the woman as she fought to catch up to Shazza and the other's that had bolted for the mass grave as soon as the first shots rang out.

But they hadn't heard the screaming. Two grown men screaming like that. It wasn't a good sign.

Alyna crested the hill, passing Fry as she went. Just in time to see Shazza launching herself at the convict, Riddick, screaming at the top of her lungs.

Alyna helped subdue the angry and frightened woman, handing her off to Fry and going to see what was left in the hole the men had dug.

Blood. A lot of it. The copper tang of it turned Alyna's stomach. The air reeked of fear, pain, and desperation. And death. But there wasn't a single body, or body part to be found.

Zeke and Davis were dead. The monsters below were far too quiet now. Likely they had taken their meal farther underground, away from the light. Shaking her head, Alyna headed for the ship. That's where Johns had Riddick locked up. Time for Alyna to find out about the dangerous man.


	3. Chapter 3

Alyna did not like Johns. He was rude, crass, and he leered at her more than was healthy. He creeped her out more than a little bit. 

The way he ogled her chest made her want to punch him. Maybe he'd be stupid enough to trip and fall into one of those stupid holes.

The unnatural, chemical smell to him masked a good majority of his natural scent, making it hard to figure out his moods, as she generally did with everyone else, bit it also made him incredibly easy to track, and thus avoid. Which is exactly what she planned on doing.

Alyna had just finished helping Shazza and Fry pack up everything they were taking on the little jaunt through the desert that was planned, and was wandering around. She didn't have a breather, having declined it so someone else could have it. She was also pilfering everything she could manage that wasn't nailed down. This led her inside where Riddick was being held, where she had intended on ending up anyway.

Alyna heard voices and slid into the shadows, listening as Riddick spooked Fry. She climbed her way silently up to the rafters of the ship, lifting her goggles to rest on top of her head, held in place by her ponytail. From there she had a clear view as Riddick played his manipulative game with Fry. And that's all it was. A spike of arousal and primal fear from the blonde filtered up to her hiding place. Alyna wrinkled her nose.

And then Jack spoke up, making Alyna smile at the girl's audacity.

"Where the hell do I get eyes like that?" She asked, enthralled with the man. He turned from Fry to the little girl, strange silver eyes shining. Alyna drew in a breath. His eyes were absolutely beautiful. No wonder the kid was so enthralled.

"You gotta kill a few people." He told the girl on his deep gravelly voice. Tingles spread through Alyna at the clear sound. The scent of amusement came to her. It was a sweet, bitter and spicy thing. Almost tangible. Riddick was really enjoying this.

"'Kay, I can do it." The little girl replied.

"Then you get sent to a slam where they tell you you'll never see daylight again. You dig up a doctor and pay him twenty menthol cools to do a surgical shine job on your eyeballs." The man explained.

"So you can see who's sneaking up on you on the dark?" Jack asked excitedly, her voice raising in pitch. Alyna was going to have to work with the girl to help her learn to conceal her gender better. It was a safe bet that Riddick already knew, and the others would figure it out before long.

"Exactly!" Riddick confirmed, sounding pleased with himself. 

"Leave!" Fry snapped. When both Riddick and Jack looked at her she sighed and repeated herself, this time softer. More of a request then a demand. 

Jack did as asked this time. Jack was already planning something, if the mischief that rolled off her in waves was anything to guage the kid by.

"Did I kill a few people, sure. Did I kill Zeke? No. You got the wrong killer.

Alyna almost snorted. She knew that. If the others would just listen they would hear it too. And feel it. This entire planet had an unearthly stillness to it. The things under the ground, they were hungry. And that hunger permeated the air. It was all around them. Digging from below and devouring the dead bodies from the crash, and the few living ones Alyna hadn't gotten to in time. There was one container out there that she hadn't even gone inside, even though it had been mostly intact. The things had managed to dig through the bottom and had started devouring everyone inside. And from the screams she had heard, not all of them had died in the crash.

"We checked the hole. There were no bodies." Fry stated.

"Look deeper." Was all the convict said. Fry stormed out. Alyna relaxed for a moment.

"And just who might you be? Hiding in the shadows watching?" He asked, leaning back against the wall where he was chained. His eyes were on her, exactly where she was hiding, unseen by anyone else. She dropped down from the ceiling, out of the concealing darkness directly in front of him and looked him in the eye. She could just see the original color of his iris bleeding through in the darkness.

"Me? I'm just an innocent bystander." She answered him with a non-answer. He threw his head back and laughed. It was the second time she'd heard that throaty laugh. And this time it had the same effect. She shivered all over and had to fight down her reaction to him.

His head snapped back toward her and his nostrils flared. His eyes narrowed. The smell of animal musk increased.

"No, there's nothing innocent about you. Tell me the truth. Who are you?" He demanded. Alyna didn't bristle, as she usually would if anyone else gave her an order. That reaction puzzled her, but her animal only shifted in response. She took a step closer, almost within his range of movement. 

"You're like me. Something not quite human. What do you see with those eyes of yours?" She wondered out loud. She took another step. Too close. Before even her enhanced senses could react he had jerked forward, both legs snapping out and grabbing her behind the knees. He pulled sharply.

She fell forward, catching herself against him. She was half laying across him, one leg between his, the other on the outside of his muscular thigh. She was practically straddling his leg. She pulled back, his knees tightened around d her leg, holding her in place. Her animal purred in response, shocking her.

"You didn't answer me. Who. Are. You?" He bit out. Alyna bit her lip. Her heart rate spiked and her breathing sped up, even in the thin atmosphere, but Alyna didn't back down. She may be young, but she wasn't stupid. And she wasn't afraid of this man, regardless of the reaction he garnered from everyone else. In fact, she had quite the opposite. Something inside was drawn to him. She wanted to trust him. Her animal stirred.

She stared at his black clad chest for a moment before she reached out and laid her palm over his heart. The beat was strong, steady. Comforting. She wanted to curl up against his chest. Instead she looked him in the eye. Those peculiar, silver-blue eyes.

"My name is Alyna. Lyn, for short." She told him.

"Lyn, huh. Nice name. Richard B. Riddick." He introduced himself. Alyna opened her mouth but he chose that moment to lean in and scent her neck. She shivered. He made a pleased sound in his chest.

"You smell good. So tell me, Lyn, what exactly do you mean, that I'm like you? Not quite human." He asked, voice low and husky in her ear.

"You smell more like an animal, a predator than a man. If I had to guess, some kind of big cat. And you move like one too." Riddick actually drew back and looked at her, studying her.

"So, its not just me then. You can smell it too. Interestin'. What else can you do, girl?" He asked, staring her in the eye.

"I can smell emotions. I have heightened senses, just like you do, I'm betting. I was born different. I'm wicked fast, stronger than normal people, and I have animal instincts. To hunt, kill. The only difference is I don't have your eyes."

"Very interestin'. Seems like you and I have somethin' in common. So I'm betting you can hear them too." His eyes glanced briefly diwnward. Alyna nodded, looking down where his legs were holding hers.

"I'm not going to run. You can let go now." She told him. He didn't budge. He did lean in, however, lips just brushing her ear sending shivers up her spine, forcing her to bite back a moan.

"Nah, I think I like you right here, Alyna." He told her. She did moan then, his voice setting off little sparks along her nerve endings.

"Riddick..." She bit out. He tensed for a moment, then he pushed her back off of his lap suddenly.

"Go, back up there." He bit out, sounding more than a little displeased. Alyna brushed herself off and did what he said, barely managing it on shakey legs. She could smell her own arousal, hot and sticky in the air. She was almost embarrassed. But then, it had been a long while since she'd had a good fuck. And Riddick was hitting all her triggers, whether she wanted him to or not.

She had just gotten herself up into the pipes again when she heard the footsteps approaching.

When Johns made his appearance, a sickening smell followed him. The scent of fear, and arousal, under the burning smell of morphine. Alyna had finally placed it, after lifting a half spent medical kit that had one dose in a bottle, but no syringe to administer it. He had a sadistic streak a mile wide, and apparently he got off on intimidating people. Disgusting.

Acid green eyes watched and waited as Johns made his stupid deal with Riddick.

Alyna waited, breathing shallowly until the gunshot rang out.

"Fuck you!" Riddick yelled. The raven haired girl flinched back against the bars, her heart pounding as the exchange continued. 

"I want you to remember this moment." Riddick told the merc menacingly. Alyna felt her spine tingle. The promised violence in that voice was palpable. 

And then Johns was gone and she was alone with Riddick once more. Only this time  there were no chains holding him. He stood watching the merc move out of sight. Then his eyes turned straight to her.

"Come on out, girl." He called to her. She dropped down again, much steadier, having regained control of herself after their little exchange.

"I don't trust him Riddick. He smells like deceit." She told the man in front of her. He was at least half a foot taller than her, and quite a bit wider. Not that she didn't have some muscle of her own.

"I don't." He stated, turning to her again as he pulled his goggles back on.

"Are you going to do what he said? No shivs?" She asked, cocking a hip to the side and crossing her arms. She was honestly curious. Riddick just laughed.

"We'll continue what we started later. Just don't let them catch you stealing and sneaking around." He told her before brushing past her and out into the bright sunlight. He threw back one last comment, causing her to smile foolishly. "By the way, nice choice of eye wear."

Reaching up and retightening her ponytail, she pulled her goggles back into place and followed at a more sedate pace.

***

Alyna knew she was in trouble. The entire way to the settlement she was trailing around behind Riddick, barely paying attention to anyone else. His scent was intoxicating. Dark spice, sweat, steel and blood, and that animal musk that she couldn't get enough of. It drew her in and wrapped her mind in a haze. Her inner animal was practically purring.

So much so that she didn't even notice Johns creeping up on her until he spoke into her ear.

"You know, you're playing a dangerous game, little girl. Riddick'll chew you up and spit you out." He whispered conspiratorially.

Alyna jumped, and whirled on the merc. Her acid green eyes flashed. Anger pulsed through her at her own distraction. Johns stood there smirking at her.

"I can take care of myself, thanks. Worry about yourself, Johns. You know, if I can smell the lust on you every time you think he's under your control, don't think he can't smell it too." She snarled at him. Over his head she noticed a gap in the bone of whatever beast had fallen here. She took her chance and leapt lightly up through it and deftly climbed her way to the top, leaving the others behind.

"Crazy bitch." She heard him mutter. She knew she had him spooked, and no one else had seen her, save Riddick. She stayed up there in the relative shade of massive slabs of bone, picking her way through the bone yard's higher path, keeping ahead of the group. She followed across the backs of the skeletons, until she spotted the settlement.

She dropped down beside Riddick. Her foot twisted slightly on landing, as she had misjudged the height. An arm was there, steadying her. She looked up into sliver eyes. His gaze made something in her stir. Something inhuman that shifted beneath her skin. She felt herself flush and pulled away.


	4. Chapter 4

Alyna was making her way around the settlement while the others were working on the skiff, and the Imam was trying to get the water filtration system up and running, before people started succumbing to dehydration. It wasn't bad yet, but Alyna had noticed dry and cracking lips already. Pretty soon it would start becoming a problem. Especially with three suns shining down on them.

Tempers were getting short. Shazza was busy working on patching the wings, with Paris helping by fetching tools for the dark skinned woman. Fry and Johns were checking the skiffs systems.

The Imam and two of his boys were messing with the water filtration, trying to figure out how it worked and get it running so they could all get a drink. Jack and the youngest boy were nowhere to be seen, likely off getting in to trouble, as kids were won't to do. Johns had sent Riddick off to find some more materials that were needed, and she was exploring, looking for more useful items.

So far all she had found was a bunch of dusty glasses, a lot of abandoned knickknacks and personal items that unnerved her, and a few barely useful miscellaneous things like bandages and tape.

She was currently shuffling through some things in one of the dwellings when she scented Riddick. She turned to find him just inside the door, leaning against the frame, arms crossed, watching her.

"You know, its not polite to stare." She stated.

"But its such a great view." He teased. Her animal preened. She blushed.

"Did you need something Riddick?" She asked, setting the teapot she had been looking at back on the table.

"Have you noticed just how much stuff is left here?" He asked her, motioning around the room. Alyna looked around. There were photos still on the shelves, glasses sitting on tables, books left as if the owner had set them down intending to return, and then just didn't.

"Yeah. These people didn't leave. There's just too much junk. They would have taken essentials, like canned food, eyeglasses, photos. Something happened here. Something bad. I can feel it in the air." She said, wrapping her arms around her middle, despite the oppressive heat.

"And if we don't get off this rock, the same will happen to us. Those things are waiting for something. They're gathering. I know you hear them." He pushed off the doorframe and walked into the middle of the room. He stopped a few feet from her.

"You know, Johns isn't planning on taking everyone. That skiff won't hold us all." She admitted what she had been thinking ever since seeing the small emergency ship. It might hold half their number, but only just. There was no way everyone here was going.

"You noticed that too. Good." He flashed her a smile.

"So what do we do about him?" She asked, leaning back against the table, arms behind her for support.

"Let me take care of that. You just keep an eye on things. They don't want me anywhere near the skiff, so maybe you can be my eyes and ears." He suggested. Alyna didn't know much about ships, but she was a fast learner.

"OK, tell me what I'm looking for and I'll do what I can. But in return you make sure that those kids make it to the skiff when shit goes south. And it will go south, in a hurry. I can feel it." She gave her own terms.

"Agreed. Now, do you have any weapons yet?" He fingered the bone shiv she had noticed him shaving with before. When Johns had commented Riddick had come back with a retort about it being a 'personal grooming appliance'. As if that were its primary function. Alyna smiled and produced one of the small throwing knives she had 'procured' from Paris's stash of antiquities.

"Don't worry about me. Kitty has claws, and knows how to use them." She tossed at him teasingly. Her comment had a different effect than she had anticipated. His eyes went dark and he took a step toward her. The smell of his arousal hit her like a brick. It was thick and spicy, and she wanted to melt. Before she realized it he had closed the distance and had her pinned against the table, his arms a cage on either side of her.

This close she could see the flare of his nostrils as he took in her scent, no doubt picking up the responding heat he had brought forth.

"Your playing a dangersous game, wildcat." He told her. His voice had dropped into that husky tone again. Alyna bit back a moan.

"Who said I'm playing?" She asked, tapping a previously unseen blade against his leg, or more specifically, his femoral artery.

He glanced down and chuckled.

"Put that away, I like my women willing." He backed off slightly. Alyna bit her lip, her animal urging her to follow as he withdrew. So she did, surging forward and kissing him hard.

He kissed back, one arm wrapping around the back of her head, carding into her black curls. The other followed the curve of her back down to her ass where he squeezed, lifting her into the hard planes of his body.

His tongue pushed its way into her mouth, twining with hers momentarily, then mapping out her teeth and the roof of her mouth. She moaned into the kiss.

When the need for what little oxygen was in the air became too much she pulled back, panting. She met his intense gaze. At some point during the exchange both of their goggles had ended up getting pulled. Hers were still dangling from her ponytail, while his had hit the ground. He made no move to retrieve them, seeming loathe to release her.

"I don't know exactly what this is, but I want you. My animal has never wanted a man before," She admitted to him. "But now isn't the time or the place. We better both make it off this rock." She left the rest of the thought unsaid.

"Good to know. And we will. One way or another." He promised. And then he was gone, sweeping out the door and disappearing.

Alyna fixed her goggles and went back to sorting through things, trying desperately to calm her racing heart, and the impatient shifting under her skin.

***

The raven haired woman was just putting a cleaned teapot and a tin of vacuum sealed tea leaves and snacks that looked fairly well preserved in her bag when she heard a shrill whistle.

"C'mon. You're missing the party." She heard Johns saying. She made her way out of the house when she heard Riddick echo it.

The sheet fell from the coring room, revealing Jack, with a newly shaved head and makeshift goggles on her face. Alyna laughed and dug in her bag for one of the pairs she had salvaged from the Hunter-Gratzner.

As Jack made it to the ground, grumbling, Alyna caught up to her.

"Jack, these should work better. They're treated to block harmful light." She told the girl who eagerly accepted the gift and switch he'd out her cobbled together ones for the better ones. "So where is Ali? The Imam's boy?" 

"Dunno. He might have gone inside." Jack told the older woman, looking back at the building. The solar domes on top of the building were still partially covered, and hadn't moved yet. Alyna sent Jack on to the others and headed back toward the coring room to collect Ali.

She found the hole he had climbed through, and followed the scent. Adolescent fear had a different scent altogether than the fear of adults. It was somehow both stronger, as children were afraid of everything, it seemed. And it was softer, because children hadn't yet learned that most of the things they feared were true, in some way, as adults already knew what dangers lurked out there.

Ali smelled of the Imam, a sort of mix between frankincense and linen, and the soft lingering floral scent Alyna couldn't place. All three of his boys smelled like it.

It was this scent that Alyna followed to the boy. He was standing in the middle of the room, looking around in the shadows.

Alyna didn't want to scare the boy, so she made a deliberate shuffling noise. He turned to her.

"C'mon, there's water, and your father's waiting." She told him. The boy turned to her, starting back toward the exit, when the tarp that had covered the solar dome shifted and fell. The whir of the machines starting up brought with it a trill that had Alyna's hair standing on end.

"Ali! Run!" Alyna shouted, starting forward as a fluttering mass of tiny bat-like creatures dropped from the rafters and swooped around the room. Ali didn't make it in time, having been most of the way across the room, before they set upon him. Alyna was forced back when a second group broke off and came at her. The sting of dozens of tiny bites enraged her. She slashed out at the air, knocking several of the little beasts to the floor, either stunned, or dead.

Ali was screaming now. He had run when the bat-things attacked. Alyna couldn't see him, but she smelled the acidic scent of pure terror and pain. She stumbled toward his screams, still fighting off the swarm.

She batted several more aside until the light, what little there was, forced the things back into the shadows. She moved toward the door that had slammed.

When his screams suddenly cut off and the smell of death filled the room, Alyna dropped to her knees a few feet from the door. Anguish washed over her and she let out a keening scream. She couldn't save the child. Her arms wrapped around her middle and she keened again.

And then a gunshot sounded.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Just so everyone knows, this is where things go seriously off script. From here on out this will definitely be canon divergent. I will be adding in certain bits and pieces from the movies, but it won't follow the same timeline.
> 
> Also, how is Alyna doing? Is she believable? Let me know. Comments give me inspiration.


	5. Chapter 5

Riddick made his way into the room, accepting a glass of water from the Imam. Most of the others were already here, the exceptions being a few kids and the woman, Lyn.

He scented the air, searching for her scent, but found it absent entirely. That made him slightly uneasy.

There was something about her... Something Riddick was drawn to. It was both familiar, and also very foreign to him. But her scent called him. It was contradictory, delicate lilacs, sweet water, and clean stone. Something in his mind stirred, but he couldn't place that smell.

Riddick glanced around, his nose wrinkling from the sheer volume of differing scents in the room. Rotting fruit, anise, burnt coffee, frankincense, leather and oil, and the lingering undertone of tomato leaves, along with Johns' ever present chemical scent that made Riddick want to sneeze.

The Imam began to pray, likely blessing the water and thanking his God for it. Riddick tuned it out in favor of gauging Johns' and Fry's suddenly off smells. Fry was the source of the burnt coffee scent, an odd thing. Guilt and resignation did not make good food for thoughts. Hmm, he would have to watch them both. Especially with Johns acting more smug than before.

A second later Jack walked into the room, garnering many odd looks with her freshly shaved head and sporting a pair of welder's goggles suspiciously similar to the ones that both he and Lyn wore.

"What?" The teenager challenged the silence. Paris spoke up then.

"It's the winner of the look alike contest." He remarked sarcastically to the room.

Riddick smiled as he took a drink of slightly copperish water. 

Johns and Fry brushed it off.

"So, who were these people?" Paris asked, coughing to cover his discomfort at the lack of a response to his joke.

"Geologists, most likely. The core samples and equipment would suggest as much." Shazza supplied.

"Nice of them to leave so much of their stuff here. So why'd they leave their ship?" Fry asked, pacing slowly, looking at everything still sitting around collecting dust.

"S'not a ship. Just a skiff. And it's disposable, really." Johns explained.

"Like an emergency life raft?" Paris asked, shifting in his seat.

"They probably had a big drop ship take them off planet." Shazza took another drink of water, grimacing slightly at the taste. Riddick shook his head. No one was thinking! What the hell was wrong with these people? Did they have no observational skills whatsoever?

"Come on, these people didn't leave. Whatever got Zeke and that other guy got them. You don't really think they left with their clothes on the hooks, photos on the shelves?"

"Maybe they had weight limits. You don't know-" Shazza started. Riddick interjected.

"I know you don't prep your emergency ship unless there's a fuckin' emergency." He leveled a look at the dark skinned woman.

"He's fuckin' right." Jack chimed in almost cheerfully, sipping her water.

"You watch your mouth!" Johns snapped.

"He's just saying what we're all thinking, Johns." Fry spoke up, her hand landing on Jack's shoulder comfortingly.

 "Hey, where's Lyn?" Jack asked, looking around. "She was right behind me." 

At that moment something caught Riddick's attention. A distant echo of those odd trills came to him from the direction of the coring room, where he had last seen Lyn. Riddick barely registered the Imam asking after his youngest son before a wave of protective anger crashed over him. Lyn was in danger.

"Coring room!" He snapped out as he bolted. The scuffle of many feet following as he took off at a dead run didn't register, nor did Jack's shouts of his name. He hit the chained doors just as a scream pierced the air. The aroma of death flooded out into the air as Johns blew the chains off the door and everyone piled inside.

What they found left all of them rattled.

Lyn was lying on the floor, bleeding from a dozen cuts, and the bloodied body of the youngest member of the group lay several feet away, the evidence of hundreds of chunks of flesh having been torn away by mouths full of razor sharp teeth clearly visible.

The blackening bodies of several small bat things lay crumpled on the floor around the two.

Riddick scooped the screaming Lyn into his arms, Shazza following after. As soon as his arms were around her the raven haired woman stopped screaming, instead mumbling the same words over and over again. Riddick carried her into one of the well lit buildings and laid her across a table.

"Here, let me." Shazza started looking over Lyn's wounds. Most of them weren't too deep. A good thing, as they hadn't salvaged much in the way of medical supplies. The dark woman turned to Riddick.

"Go get some water, and find me something to clean the wounds, and something to use as bandages." She went back to checking Lyn over.

Riddick left to do as asked. He pulled several shirts from a closet and a good amount of water in a clay bowl and returned to find Jack sitting at Lyn's side, hunched up and curling in on herself. Shazza was sitting beside the girl, one arm around her, talking quietly to her in a comforting tone.

He sat the bowl down in front of them and started ripping the shirts up for bandages.

Shazza left Jack and went about cleaning Lyn's wounds, the woman finally having succumbed to the exhaustion of the ordeal and passing out.

Riddick left her to it, knowing that Shazza would take care of her. There was a tenderness in her toward the green eyed woman, one that Riddick would hazard a guess stemmed from a relationship with a younger sibling that Lyn reminded her of.

He knew the feeling, somewhat. He had a soft spot for this woman, beyond the lust that had made itself known the second he scented her in the shadows back at the transport ship. This was something much softer, and it puzzled Riddick. He barely knew her. How could he have feelings for her?

Granted he knew there was something about her that was utterly unlike other people. She moved with an inherent grace that drew his eye. Her odd acid green eyes glinted catlike in the right light, and she was fast, and light on her feet. He knew that just from watching her. He had observed a few of her stolen moments where she let down her act for a few minutes out of the view of others. She was much like him. A predator.

But that gave him no real reason to develop feelings for her. She was fully capable of betraying him if it suited her. But then, what of her demand that he make sure the children made it to that skiff when things went bad, as was inevitable? Their deal wasn't exactly watertight. And besides. She hadn't held up her end yet, as it were.

Regardless, his chest still felt tight at the sight of her, injured and so vulnerable. And the protectiveness that gripped him. It was a complication he didn't need.

She moaned then, barely conscious. He had the urge to reach out and run his fingers across her cheek. A comforting motion. He stifled it.

Instead of hovering and bringing attention to the tenuous connection between he and Lyn, Riddick went to help Johns and the Imam bury the boy, tamping down his worry over his woman until it was an afterthought.

He would compartmentalize everything that was in his head until he had time to sort through it. Until then he had shit to do. He still couldn't resist one last look back at her as he left.

***

Alyna came to, groggy and disoriented. This was compounded by the multitude of stinging places along her left shoulder and side.

The sound of raised voices reached her ears.

"-no? Well then how about you figure something out? Because we have less than two days to get off this rock before that happens, and I don't see that happening with you procrastinating about the power cells! I don't care how you do it, just get the damn things here, Johns!" Fry was yelling.

"I'd love to Carolyn. But you and I both know that as soon as I do that, Riddick will ghost us all and take off as soon as he gets the chance." Johns shot back,volume only slightly lower.

"Ugh! You keep saying that, but I haven't seen any evidence that he's as bad as you say. In fact, all he seems to be worried about is surviving, just like the rest of us." The blonde snapped.

"Yeah? Except his survival hinges on is letting him go when this is all over. Do you think he believes for a second that we actually would? It doesn't matter if its the truth or not, as long as he believes it ain't, we're as good as dead. If you're OK with that then so be it, but I for one, ain't taking that chance." 

There was no reply, aside from a slamming door.

Clearly they didn't know that Alyna was within earshot. And boy had they given her a lot to process. 

So there was something that was due to happen in less than 48 hours, which meant they were in trouble. And Johns was taking his sweet time bringing the power cells from the Hunter-Gratzner on the assumption that Riddick didn't believe he would cut him loose.

Astute assumption, aside from the fact that Alyna didn't think Riddick cared one way or the other about anyone aside from Johns, unless they were to stand in the way of his freedom.

The fact that Fry was pushing said that there was dissention in the ranks. Maybe Fry didn't think Riddick was that dangerous either. At least, not if they all gave him what he wanted. And from what Alyna could tell, that was his freedom.

But Johns never would. He was too damn greedy to even consider it. Hell, if he knew about the price on her head he would likely do the same to her, and more than likely leave everyone else here to rot.

Great. This was just a lovely development.

Alyna rolled over and got to her feet. She found that the majority of her wounds had been bandaged up. Mostly it was her left side that had taken the brunt of the attack, with a few smaller wounds on her legs and face that had been left to close up on their own.

All in all she was lucky. Ali hadn't been.

Those things were vicious, and wicked fast. Alyna had barely managed to fight them off before they got a good bite in. If those were the adolescent, then what did that say about the adults?

Shaking off the dread that settled over her at the thought, Alyna got to her feet and went to find the others.

***

"You're awake!" Shazza all but chirped at her as soon as the dusky skinned woman spotted her stepping into the sunlight, blinking rapidly. Where the hell were her goggles?

Hands groped for her bag, only to find it wasn't hanging across her shoulders. Right, because she had been injured, and her injuries tended to. Alyna turned to Shazza.

"Yeah. I... Where's my bag? I need my goggles." She asked the other woman. Shazza stopped tinkering with the sandcat she was currently fiddling with and turned to Lyn, one hand coming up to block to suns.

"Didn't have it on you when Riddick pulled you out of the coring room. Could have gotten left. If you wanna ask that's where he and a few of that others are." Shazza stood up, dusting herself off and coming overto stand beside Alyna. She looked the younger woman over, assessing her state.

"Thanks Shazza. What about... Ali. He didn't make it. How is Imam taking it?" Her face fell. Guilt weighed heavily on her. She hadn't been able to save him. This e nasty things were wicked fast, and she'd barely managed not to get eaten alive herself.

"He's taking it better than most. They buried the boy over on the other side of the settlement. Imam's praying with the other two boys. How are you feeling? Any signs those things might be poisonous?" She asked, concern coloring her features.

"I'm OK. Thank you, by the way. I figured it was you that took care of me. So thanks. And no, I'm not dizzy, or sick or anything. I don't think they carry any toxins. Did the others figure out what those things were?" Alyna shifted from foot to foot. Her eyes were beginning to really ache. She needed her goggles before the migraine set in. Having extremely sensitive eyes was hell. Especially here.

"Looked like some kinda bat thing. Anyway I won't keep you. Go find your stuff. When you're done maybe you can come help me with this beast. My helpers seem to have deserted me." Shazza laughed, heading back to continue trying to get the sandcat working. Alyna nodded, heading off toward the coring room. Absentmindedly she reached over and scratched at her shoulder. Her wounds were healing, and they itched like hell.

Voices were coming from the open doors.

"Other places weren't secure. So they all ran here. Heaviest doors. Thought they'd be safe inside. But they forgot to lock the cellar." Riddick gravelly voice drifted to her.

She rounded the corner to find Johns, Fry and Riddick standing over a set of open cellar doors. A green glow from o e of the emergency flares eminated from within.

"So that's where those monsters came from, huh?" She asked, announcing her presence. Though Riddick had heard her approach, no doubt. She joined the others, glancing down into a pit of bones, picked clean. Alyna could just see where a few of the bones had been snapped in half by sharp teeth. A shudder ran through her.

"Well, well, sleeping beauty's awake at last. Good of you to join us." The merc remarked. Alyna gave him an unimpressed look.

"They don't like the light. It burns their skin." Riddick told her. He nodded toward several blackened objects over in the corner of the room. Alyna moved toward them, to inspect and see just what it was that had attacked. That she was hearing beneath the sand.

From what she saw they were pterosaur-esque, wings attached to forearms, hind legs meant for running, and barbed split tails. The oddest feature was the shape of their heads. Triangular, with sharp beak-like mouths full of razor sharp teeth, and long bone stalks on either side of their heads. Likely eyes, or sensors of some sort. From the whoops and trills they likely used echolocation, which would mean these sensors were only good up close. Good to know, as these small ones were only babies.

The sounds from below had been much louder, and the things moving around down there were bigger. Something Fry knew from her little excursion into the termite mound formations where Zeke and Davis had died while Riddick and Alyna had been getting acquainted back on the ship.

"Well, whenever you're finished, let's board this place up and get the hell outta here." Johns practically snarled. He left. Fry followed close behind, leaving Riddick and Alyna. Lyn was still looking at the dead pterobats when Riddick held something out to her. Alyna glanced up to find her bag dangling from his hand. It was a little the worse for wear, a few tears in the fabric, bit no damage that would be a problem that she could see.

She reached out and took the canvas bag, slinging it over her shoulder.

"Thank you." She told him simply. He didn't reply, just turned to leave. Alyna opened it to inspect its contents. None were really disturbed, but her lost goggles were nestled inside with the last spare set she had. There was also a small box inside. Alyna pulled it out and looked it over. And then she laughed.

"Waterproof matches." She said in wonder. Obviously Riddick had discovered them during his search of the encampment. For which Alyna was grateful. If these things didn't do well in the light, then all the better to have as much as possible.

Maybe she could pay Paris a visit, see about getting another bottle of his alcohol. Plans started turning in Lyn's head. Time to start putting them to action.


	6. Chapter 6

Riddick didn't linger after Lyn's reappearance. Instead he went off on his own once more. He wasn't exactly a people person, as it were. 

Alyna didn't exactly expect it of him. But she had information. So she lingered around, helping Shazza, talking to Jack while playing tool fetch and carry for Shazza and the others when needed, and doing what she could to help the progress of the sandcat along. When the engine turbines finally started turning and the vehicle turned over all three women let out woops of joy. After that Alyna drifted around, helping Fry and the Imam with the wing patching, and Fry cajoled her into finding some tubing to patch something in the skiff's life support systems. A few of her trips gleaned so pretty damning, and damned useful information that she would share with Riddick later.

Pretty soon it became clear that time was passing fast. Jack and Hassan, the second of the Imam's boys both fell asleep while helping the adults. Shortly after Suleiman started having trouble staying awake. Then Shazza and Fry were seen dozing off in the middle of their respective tasks. It was the Imam who suggested that they sleep in shifts. Of course it came down to a fight with Johns before it was agreed upon. 

The children would be allowed to sleep as long as they needed. The others split shifts between them. It was during Alyna's shift that she discovered she couldn't sleep. 

The situation was too dire, and her animalistic brain wouldn't shut down.

So she got up and headed out to the skiff, intent on figuring a few things out for Riddick, and possibly pushing the work a little faster. Fry was happy for the break, switching sleep shifts with Alyna. She gave the raven a few instructions for the simple repairs that were needed, product of being left out in the elements for over two decades, and wandered off to get a little rest.

It was about two hours into this that Johns decided to pay her a visit.

"So, you still playing your game with Riddick?" Johns asked faux casually. Alyna sighed and wiped at her cheek where the grease from the interior panel that held the tubing she was replacing had accumulated. Sweat beaded on her brow and had soaked her shirt through. She sat back and took a drink from her canteen, buying a minute to answer.

"I don't know what game you mean, Johns. I ain't playing nothing. Just trying to survive this rock, just like everyone else." She drawled out, screwing the top back on her water. She looked up at him. The chemical smell was stronger now, and the shakes were less noticeable. So, he was fresh from a good dosing of morphine. Great.

"Don't play stupid with me, girl. You an' him, thick as thieves. Don't think no one noticed how fast he swooped in to the rescue when the boy died, and those thing got at you. It was like he actually cared about you. The only way that'd happen is if you two was fuckin', or if there was something you could do for him that made you useful. Nothing else." Johns snarled. Alyna picked up the mustard smell of jealousy wafting off Johns. She barely contained her cringe.

"I ain't fuckin' _nobody_ Johns. And maybe I am useful to him. As much as anybody here on this rock is. Don't think I don't know its the same for you. As soon as we wear out our use, then you'll cut us loose to save your own hide. I ain't stupid, and I ain't blind. Don't mean I'm gonna open my legs for you either. You want that, go find Fry. I'm sure you got her fooled as to your character." She deadpanned. A snarl twisted his face and he made an aborted move as if he were going to strike her, but pulled up short. Alyna wished he would have hit her. Her fingers were itching to bury one of her knives in his throat and watch the crimson pour out of him.

"Just remember, girl. He don't care about nobody but himself. This game you think you're runnin', it's gonna get you killed." He snapped and turned to leave. As soon as Johns was out of earshot a deep chuckle sounded from the other side of the skiff. Riddick stepped around the corner, watching the directon the merc had left in.

"So, playing games without me, I see. Makes a man sorta jealous." He tilted his head at her. She leveled a glare at him. Her goggles were up on top of her head since she was in the shade, so she knew he saw it. 

"I wasn't lying, Riddick. I ain't a whore to go fucking anyone who wants a taste. You included. You want me, you show me, and you ask nice. Don't expect it, 'cause it won't end well." She informed the convict. She knew it was contradictory to her earlier actions, but wanting someone, and acting the whore were two very different things.

Riddick was an attractive man. She wouldn't deny it. And if he wanted her, and was willing to treat her right, then so be it. What may be, may be. But if anyone expected her to lay down and take it, as Johns clearly did, then they would find out the hard way that she didn't play that way.

"I never said you were a whore. And I already told you. I like my women willing." He said deliberately. Alyna looked hard at him. He didn't even flinch. There was no scent of deception coming off of him, and no indicator that he was being anything but honest.

"Good. Because I meant what I said. I do want you. But now is neither the time, nor the place. So we both better make it off this rock." She turned and regarded the panel. It was as fixed as it would get. Alyna got to her feet, brushing dust off her cargos and picking up her things.

"Glad to hear you ain't getting cold feet." He smirked. Alyna pulled a bitch face.

"Too damn hot for that here. Besides, I found some things out, playing fetch and carry for everyone. Apparently there's an eclipse coming. Just under twenty-four hours now. A total, lasting eclipse. Guess who's coming out to play then?" She informed him of her discovery.

"Interestin'. So who all knows about this. Not Shazza and Paris, or there'd be a mite more panic going on. The Imam?" Riddick asked. 

"I don't think so, at least not yet. But Fry and Johns do. Which reminds me, apparently there is some dissention in the ranks. Fry wants to get the power cells here to start prep for take off, and Johns wants to wait. He keeps leading on that you're the bogeyman incarnate. Fry doesn't quite believe it." She told him. The look that crossed his face had her frowning. He only hummed, thinking.

"Alright. Give me some time I'll think of something. In the mean time keep up the charade." He told her. She nodded and turned back to look at the skiff. She opened her mouth to tell him the progress so far, but when she turned back he was gone, not even her sensitive ears noting his retreat.

"Okay then. Guess its business as usual."  She snarked at the air where he had been. Maybe she should go scouting around in the canyon, seeing as Johns was dead set on keeping them on this god forsaken planet until the last possible moment.

 


	7. Chapter 7

Alyna smiled to herself. Her little trip had proven very useful. Along with her original throwing knives and the two blades she had scavenged she now had several bone shivs and a large blade made from one of the rib bones from the giants in the canyon. It was practically a sword, sharpened to a keen edge by a flat stone. Alyna was pretty proud of it.

And she had made it back around shift change, when Johns was heading to sleep and Fry was sitting in the skiff finishing the full systems check.

"So how's she looking? Descent enough for flight I hope." Lyn asked. Fry jumped as if she'd been shocked.

"Everything is fine. What do you want?" The blonde snapped. At first Alyna was puzzled and then both Riddick and Johns' scents reached her nose. Ah, so that's it. Time to play her part.

"Jeez, Fry, I was just asking. What's got you so worked up?" Alyna asked casually. The pilot had to visibly calm herself before she answered, though Alyna pretended not to notice. Riddick must have started on his plan, whatever it was. Most likely to discredit Johns and give Fry a reason to ignore him and bring the cells needed early enough to get off planet before the looming eclipse reached them.

"I'm sorry. I think the heats getting to me. To all of us." She tried to explain away, waving a hand dismissively. Alyna nodded, understanding. The heat was oppressive and she was sweating miserably.

"Alright. Well, if things are looking good Shazza's almost got the sandcat fixed up enough to go pick up the cells and anything else left at the wreck. You want me to go find her?" Alyna asked innocently.

"No, let her rest. She's exhausted. We'll get them later." Fry hedged. Alyna picked up the odor of guilt again. Fry wasn't comfortable lying to them. Good to know. Alyna figured it was time to clue the captain in on a few things.

"Well, we might want to hurry. I don't know if you've been to the orrery, but I think something is about to happen. I saw an eclipse on the model, but I'm not sure when its coming. I didn't want to alert anyone, but I figured you should know, being the captain and all." Alyna slyly made her play.

"Thanks, I'll take it into consideration. It shouldn't matter. We'll be leaving soon." A dismissal if Alyna had ever heard one. She took her cue to leave. 

Well, that went about as expected. Now it was time to go scavenge up a few things.

***

Alyna took note of the changing temperature. It was getting cooler. Not by much, just a degree or two. But it was significant, nonetheless.

Which meant that the eclipse was looming closer than expected. Alyna pegged it just a few hours, rather than a day. Oh joy. Time to start kicking things into gear.

She shoved her make shift torches into her bag, gathering up all the supplies and stowing them out of sight in the house she'd been using.

(TBC)


End file.
